Introducing tropical food and tropical recipes to the world!
Bananas are so ubiquitous everywhere that it is hard to imagine that they are native to the tropics and that, like pineapple and mangoes, grow best in warm climates. I have given a lot of attention to plantains and unintentionally neglected their smaller cousins….
2 out of 2. Two times I tried a new cooking technique in a recipe from Cameroun, two times I was highly skeptical and doubtful, and two times I was proven wrong in the tastiest way possible! (Thanks to my friend Astrid for telling me about this particular recipe!) So, do you remember the plantain fritters I made a few weeks ago? …
Have you ever had “gratin dauphinois”? This classic French dish is made of melt-in-your-mouth potatoes cooked in milk and then baked to perfection. Well, this plantain gratin recipe draws its inspiration from that dish. I substituted plantains for the potatoes, and an already made tomato sauce for the milk, crème fraîche and butter mix. It was so easy to make …
Have you been looking for sweet potatoes that “bake” well? Search no more. The secret is to find boniatos, also referred to as batas or tropical sweet potatoes. They look like the poor cousins of the yellow (Japanese) sweet potatoes and the red ones commonly found in the US, but do not let their imperfect appearance deter you. They are less sweet than their counterparts, with a milder, yet distinct flavor. Fresh, they crisp up when baked and become as crunchy as if they had been deep-fried in a bath of oil at exactly the right temperature. Nothing can beat …
